Wasn't sure I'd have enough to say about the new one so took this opportunity to catch up with the only feature I hadn't yet seen by a legend. General note: Stop Making Sense notwithstanding, I find concert films fundamentally pointless. As with theater, physically being there is crucial; trying to capture that on film has the same value—some, but not much—as, say, a coffee-table book of Van Gogh's paintings. Uphill battle.
Duran Duran (2011, David Lynch): 47/100
The Artist: I'm old enough to have bought the first four Duran Duran albums in real time—they were in heavy rotation on MTV early on. Lost interest after Notorious (and was surprised to discover via this film that they had a few monster hits in the '90s; I somehow did not know that "Ordinary World" is their song, Le Bon uses a higher register on that one), but I still own and enjoy the self-titled debut and Rio.
The Concert: This tour was supporting 2011's All You Need Is Now, which I'd never heard a note of; almost every track gets played, and ever hearing those songs again ain't a priority. That's Ed, they're tolerably mediocre, which is honestly more than I expected. Other half of the set's your standard greatest hits package, and the band's in good form, genuinely tearing it up on "Careless Memories" (though Roger Taylor's toms are poorly miked). Watching this made me appreciate how supple and innovative John Taylor's basslines are, and Le Bon's voice had somehow deteriorated not at all over what was then 30 years. (Today, who knows?) Gerard Way, Beth Ditto, Mark Ronson (who produced All You Need) and Kelis do guest spots, as befits a special live broadcast (which I believe this originally was). Unexpected deep cut: "Friends of Mine." Nifty idea: A medley of early Bond themes that leads into a slow, moody, orchestral "View to a Kill" before the song explodes into its familiar form for the second verse.
The "Film": Turns out a whole bunch of major filmmakers were recruited for this "Unstaged" concert series. Todd Haynes directed a show by My Morning Jacket; Spike Lee directed shows by John Legend & The Roots and Pharrell Williams; Terry Gilliam directed a show by Arcade Fire; Werner Herzog directed a show by The Killers; I could go on for a while, look it up. As far as I can tell, though, only this one subsequently got any sort of "release." I'd always assumed Lynch's direction would seem anonymous, but in fact there's a super-Lynchian overlay from start to finish—my guess is that he assembled a bunch of offbeat images and superimposed them live. ("I'm hoping for some happy accidents," he tells us in his brief intro.) Some of these are hilariously stupid, e.g. when Le Bon sings "This is Planet Earth / You're looking at Planet Earth" we are in fact looking at Planet Earth, thanks Dave. Many, like a gloved hand holding a plastic fork, seem totally random. A lengthy shot of someone standing over a backyard grill and repeatedly smashing it with a spatula, making five or six sausages leap about (remember, this is all superimposed over fucking Duran Duran playing "Hungry Like the Wolf" or whatever!) is like something out of a Devo video. And then there are the multiplying nude dolls with D's on their breasts. It's all more distracting than artful imo but you can easily see how this echoes aspects of Industrial Symphony No. 1. It's a Lynch film.
ANAL-RETENTIVE TITLE CORNER: Most sources title it Duran Duran: Unstaged, but that's not an option if you're going by what's onscreen. One can either call it simply Duran Duran (which appears at the beginning) or Duran Duran: American Express Unstaged (which appears at the end, with the band name and the concert series on separate consecutive "cards"). I do not care to include the sponsor, so Duran Duran it is. Which is perhaps only semi-defensible (the opening "Duran Duran" could be considered akin to actors' names, not a title at all) but hey, who can stop me.
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft (2026, James Cameron & Billie Eilish): 55/100
The Artist: Grateful that Cameron chose Eilish rather than, say, Taylor Swift. (He's the reason I saw this, to be clear.) I own her first two albums, am less keen (alas) on the most recent one she's touring for here. Would likely name "Bad Guy" the greatest pop song of this century. (Ironically, that's the song that worked least well live. Very production-dependent. Though it was cool seeing someone actually play that bassline.)
The Concert: It's been an eternity since my last live show (see below) and I was instantly put off by the sight of umpty-ump-thousand kids all holding their fucking phones up to record everything. (Phone glow having replaced cigarette lighters during ballads is a little sad to me but not triggering.) And has it become commonplace for the entire damn audience to loudly sing along with literally everything, to the point where they nearly drown out the person they came to see? Not an experience I'd remotely enjoy. On the other hand, the show's design—Eilish performing in the round, except it's actually a stadium-length rectangle she energetically runs and clambers all over—is so strong that it makes the traditional stage layout seem fatally wrongheaded. (Only artist I ever saw perform this way was Prince. Loved it then, too.) Nothing to say about the set list, since at this point she could theoretically play her entire catalogue were she willing to go Springsteen-length...though I did find it interesting that one stretch toward the end gets devoted to non-album singles (from "Ocean Eyes" to the Barbie song), grouped together as if they're bonus tracks.
The Film: One of Stop Making Sense's many masterful decisions was barely showing the audience at all—they're invisible until the very end, audible only via between-song applause. Cameron and Eilish (btw Cameron at one point tells Eilish the film will say [huge letters] "DIRECTED BY BILLIE EILISH [tiny letters] and james cameron," claiming he'll minimize his contribution, but in fact his name comes first) go the opposite route, constantly cutting to shots of fans, roughly 85% of them teen girls, roughly 95% of those (that we see, at least) openly sobbing throughout the entire concert as they passionately sing along. Often they're hugging each other for dear life. This is a truly alien phenomenon to me, yet I found it rather moving; my own relationship to music isn't remotely so therapeutic—even when I know the lyrics, I rarely care about the lyrics, except to sometimes find them clever or poetic or disturbing—but watching young people connect deeply with something that makes them feel less alone can't help but get to you. The film's arguably as much about Eilish's relationship with her fans as it is about the concert itself. Though we do get some fascinating glimpses of technical aspects, similar to what Demme did with his Timberlake film. Saw it in 3-D out of respect for Cameron but that added very little, was welcome only when there's a huge confetti explosion at the very end (and that might've been done explicitly for 3-D).
ANAL-RETENTIVE TITLE CORNER: "The Tour (Live in 3D)" is just marketing nonsense, doesn't appear onscreen. We just get BILLIE. EILISH. HIT. ME. HARD. AND. SOFT, rapid-fire, periods signifying that each word gets its own frame. One could argue that the title's just Hit Me Hard and Soft, with "Billie Eilish" (like Duran Duran) akin to an actor's credit, but in the absence of a poster credit box I'm inclined to go with the colon.
As a bonus, here's every concert I can remember attending to date. I share this with you even though it will make me look deeply uncool, both for some of the artists I saw multiple times (though honestly I don't regret going to any of those shows) and for the many artists I could have seen back then but didn't. My musical taste is still pretty normie and was extremely so in the '80s and '90s. Also a factor: These were social events, for the most part, so who I saw often depended on who I could persuade to come or who had invited me to come. But your own list would likely be more impressive. Guess I can hope to inspire envy in young readers who weren't yet born when I saw some of the following. In chronological order:
(opening acts generally omitted, either because they were of no interest to me or because I no longer remember)
Dec 1981: Neil Diamond (my whole family went; I was 13 years old).Jan 1982: Foreigner (first show I went to by choice). Aug 1982: Genesis (my high school obsession)Dec 1982: Billy Joel (my favorite prior to high school; he was a great live act)Sep 1983: Thompson Twins + Oingo Boingo + The Fixx + Madness + The Police (all-day show)Jun 1985: Howard Jones (seemed like a good idea at the time)Jul 1985: "Weird Al" Yankovic (as fun as you'd imagine)Aug 1985: Sting (used to be kind of cool once)Oct 1986: Genesis (again)Dec 1986: Peter Gabriel (with whom I was likewise obsessed in high school)Mar 1987: Big Audio Dynamite (never saw The Clash, sadly)Jun 1987: Red 7 (obscure band with one minor hit Michael Mann loved and twice needle-dropped; drummer was a friend's uncle)Jun 1987: Thomas Dolby (billed as The Lost Toy People, workshopping Aliens Ate My Buick a year before its release)Aug 1987: The Smithereens (best live band I've seen, not coincidentally the act I've seen the most times, R.I.P. Pat DiNizio)Aug 1987: Suzanne Vega (this was right after "Luka" but I'd already fallen in love with her self-titled debut)Aug 1987: David Bowie (who was unfortunately supporting Never Let Me Down; still pretty great)Sep 1987: Chris Isaak (two years before "Wicked Game," he was still largely unknown; college show, ticket was only $6)Nov 1987: R.E.M. (I waited too long and only got to see them on stadium tours)Nov 1987: U2 + The Pretenders (not sure which I was more stoked for)Mar 1988: Sting (again; I was remarkably loyal to that dude)Apr 1988: Depeche Mode (which was just like listening to their albums INCREDIBLY LOUD)Apr 1988: Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians (with Peter Buck joining in on guitar much of the time)May 1988: The Smithereens (again)Sep 1988: Billy Bragg + The Bobs (an a cappella group whose then-current album I bought and still enjoy)Nov 1988: Prince (transcendent) (btw I'm still all of 20 years old at this point)Sep 1989: The Cure (who played for a solid three hours, longest set I've ever seen)Sep 1989: Stan Ridgway (one of my more eclectic shows; his first solo album in particular is really good)Oct 1989: Fine Young Cannibals + Tom Tom Club (think this was the only show I went to expressly for the opening act)Oct 1989: R.E.M. (again)Oct 1989: Oingo Boingo (again, this time as the headliner; this was literally the day after R.E.M., same venue, I have both ticket stubs)Mar 1990: Rush (who I should have seen earlier, but oh well)Apr 1990: Billy Joel (yet again; this show was on my 22nd birthday and was a birthday gift from my dad, who went with me)Jul 1990: The Smithereens (third time)Jun 1991: Elvis Costello (who was not great that night, didn't seem to be in the mood, also he was supporting Mighty Like a Rose)Jun 1991: Indigo Girls (only straight dude in the house! not really, but close)Aug 1991: Joe Jackson + Jill Sobule (another case where I immediately bought the unknown opener's album)Sep 1991: Crowded House + Richard Thompson (with Thompson coming back onstage to play his "Sister Madly" guitar solo)Oct 1991: Sting (yet again) + Squeeze (doubt I'd've gone this time had I not also wanted to see Squeeze)Dec 1991: Billy Bragg (again; memorable for a closing cover of "Groove Is in the Heart" that lasted like half an hour)Aug 1992: Indigo Girls (again; this was just a few days before I moved to NYC)fall 1992: Michelle Shocked (short set at a Clinton rally on the NYU campus)Oct 1993: David Sylvian & Robert Fripp (this was mostly me tagging along with a friend who loved solo Sylvian; I love Japan)Dec 1993: Nirvana (under the wire, obviously; it was Cobain's final New Year's Eve, they did the countdown and everything)Jun 1994: The Smithereens (record fourth time; I know some of you have seen acts like 20 times)Jul 1994: David Byrne (was too late to see Talking Heads, who I don't think toured after Speaking in Tongues)Oct 1994: They Might Be Giants (at Yale, which my girlfriend at the time was attending)Oct 1994: Tori Amos (in New Haven, because Yale gf; this was another bad show with a performer who didn't want to be there)Jul 1995: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones + The Jesus Lizard + Beck + Elastica + Pavement + Cypress Hill + Hole + Sonic Youth (my only time at Lollapalooza and I picked the right year; was bummed about Sinéad dropping out until approximately 20 seconds into Elastica's first song)Jul 1996: Cibo Matto + Yoko Ono (in Central Park, with Sean Lennon on keyboards for both as I recall)Aug 1996: Elvis Costello and the Attractions (much better than the '91 show)Dec 1996: Robyn Hitchcock (again; this was one of his rehearsals for Storefront, and I did see Demme roaming around)Jul 1997: Sleater-Kinney (in Central Park)Jul 1999: Lyle Lovett (gift to my girlfriend at the time, though I was plenty happy to go myself)Aug 1999: Soul Coughing (shortly before they broke up)Aug 2000: They Might Be Giants (again) + Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing having just broken up)Mar 2002: The Dismemberment Plan (you can see I'm getting out less frequently now)Feb 2003: The Dismemberment Plan (and only seeing one band apparently; both shows at Bowery Ballroom, too)Jul 2006: Yo La Tengo (at Prospect Park)Jul 2007: The White Stripes (at freakin' Madison Square Garden, with Jack in full-blown Rock God mode)Aug 2007: The Hold Steady (at Prospect Park)
I left NYC not too much later and haven't been to a concert since. Partly because now I'd have to deal with parking again (I rode a Yamaha scooter throughout most of the '80s, wasn't an issue then); partly because getting tickets has become a total nightmare...but mostly, to be honest, because I just kinda aged out of it. I'd been one of those dudes who fought his way to the front of the stage, which is definitely a young man's game. However, that's about to change, as I couldn't resist buying a ticket for Liz Phair + Sleater-Kinney, who happen to be playing L.A. the night before I'm likely gonna fly to Toronto (for TIFF), so that I can go straight from the show to the airport. Wouldn't have thought to see Sleater-Kinney without Janet on their own (especially having already seen them with Janet, on the Dig Me Out tour no less), but throw in Phair and make it that convenient date and what the hell. Hopefully it'll mostly be fellow nostalgic geezers and I won't be trapped in a sea of phones.